Drinking-fountain.



G. A. WOODS.

DRINKING FOUNTAIN.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 6.19I6.

Patented Sept. 4, 1917,

'I IIHl I III jmveiziwf:

i MA/QwvL/C a? llNllT 1 GEORGE ADAM-S WOODS, F WINCHESTER,MASSACHUSETTS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

DRINKING-FOUNTAIN.

Patented Sept. at, 101?.

Application filed June 6, 1916. Serial No. 102,080.

To all whom it may camera:

Be it known that I, GEORGE ADAMS Woons, a citizen of the United States.residing at Winchester, in the county of Middlesex and .State ofMassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inDrinking-Fountains, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to drinking fountains of that type in which wateris automatically delivered from a reservoir to an open trough or thelike in such manner as to maintain a. constant water level in thetrough. My improvements are particularly intended to provide a fountainof this character which will be serviceable for use in connection withbird-cages, and reside in certain features of construction andarrangement hereinafter described, resulting in a simple and inexpensivefountain which can be quickly and easily attached to or detached from abird-cage, is not liable to be accidentally detached therefrom or displaced from its intended position, and can be readily cleaned and filledwith a supply of water when occasion requires.

, A fountain as preferably constructed in accordance with my inventionis illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is aperspective view showing the fountain applied to a bird-cage;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the detached fountain;

Fig. 3 is a similar view with parts in central vertical section;

Fig. 4 is an elevation of a tube hereinafter described; and

Fig. 5 is a plan view of an open trough constituting a part of thefountain.

The fountain shown in the drawing comprises a trough 2 which is open atits top and includes two portions 3 and 4, of which the portion 3 isintended to be located within the interior of a bird-cage so as to beaccessible to the occupants thereof, while the other portion 4: isnormally located outside of the bird-cage and carries the reservoir fromwhich the trough is supplied with water as needed. Between the portions3 and 4. the trough 2 is provided with two transverselyextending slots 5located in line with each other and open at their outer ends, and in theparticular construction illustrated, these slots are bounded on theirouter sides by adjacent walls of the portion a of the trough and ontheir inner sides by flanges 6 which extend outward from the innerportion 3 of the trough. This provides a simple and inexpensive form oftrough which can be stamped or drawn from a single piece of metal. Thedistance between the inner ends of the slots 5 is equal to the distancebetween two adjacent wires 7 of the bird-cage to which the fountain isto be attached, and the depth of the trough 2 is such that if the troughis turned on edge its inner portion can be passed between adjacent wires7 until the latter are opposite the slots 5, whereupon by turning thetrough into a horizontal position the wires 7 may be caused to entersaid slots as shown in Fig. 1. After this has been done the trough islowered until its bottom rests upon and is supported by the usual crossbar 8 forming a part of the cage, which bar is embraced bydownwardlyextending projections 9 stamped in the bottom of the trough,whereby the latter is kept level. When placed in the position justdescribed the trough is securely attached to the cage, from which itcannot be removed except by first lifting it and then turning it onedge.

The outer extremity of the trough is provided with an upwardly-extendingtube 10, the lower end of which is cut away on one side as shown at 11to a point located slightly below the top of the trough and determinedin accordance with the desired level of the water in the trough. Theupper portion of this tube 10 receives the neck of the reservoir 12,which is preferably made of glass and has substantially the form of aninverted flask, being supported adjacent to the base of its neck by theupper end of the tube 10. This tube is preferably formed as a separatepiece from the trough 2, as shown, and has 1ts lower end received withinthe correspondingly-shaped outer extremity of the trough, with which itmakes a fairly close sliding fit, so that it can be turned therein onits axis. The object of this is to facilitate the filling of thefountain and its attachment to the bird-cage without loss of itscontents, which is accomplished by removing the reservoir 12, filling itwith water, turning the tube 10 in the trough 2 until the opening 11 insaid tube is closed by the outer wall of the trough, and then placingthe upper end of the tube over the neck of the reservoir. This closesthe outlet from the reservoir and enables the fountain to be held in anyposition without losing any of the water in the reservoir, so that thecombined parts can be turned to permit the attachment of the fountain tothe bird-cage as above described. After this has been done the tube 10is turned on its axis until the opening 11 faces the portion 3 of thetrough, whereupon air enters the reservoir 12 and water passes therefrominto the trough until the level of the water in the latter reaches thetop of the opening 11. Further entrance of air into the reservoir isthen prevented and no more water escapes from the same until the waterlevel in the trough has been lowered by evaporation or use.

In order that the parts may operate as above described is desirableforthe neck of the reservoir 12 to make practically a water and airtight fit with the tube 10 since otherwise the water in the trough mightrise to the level of the lower end of the'neck of the reservoir 12, butthis is not particularly important if said neck extends downward to apoint below the top of the trough.

I claim:

1. A drinking fountain comprising a trough having two communicatingportions adapted respectively to be located within and without a birdcage and connected by a relatively narrow neck, with slots extendingtransversely in opposite directions from said neck and'passing throughthe trough from top to bottom the outer ends of said slots being openand their inner ends being adapted to receive adjacent wires of the cageand lock the trough thereto when in operative position, the depth of theinner portion of the trough being such as to permit the latter to bepassed between said wires when 1 turned at right angles to its operativeposition, a reservoir carried by the outer portion of the trough andarranged to supply the same with water to a constant level, and means onthe trough for engaging the cage and thereby preventing the trough fromtilting.

2. A drinking fountain comprising a sheet metal trough having twocommunicating portions adapted respectively to be located within andwithout a bird-cage and separated by opposed slots having openouter endsand adapted to receive adjacent wires of the cage, the depth of theinner portion of the trough being such as to permit the latter to bepassed between said wires, an upright tube rotatably held in the outerportion of the trough and provided with a lateral opening located belowthe top of the trough, and a reservoir having a downwardly-extendingneck removably located in the upper portion of said tube and openinginto'the same, the bottom of the trough being provided withdownwardly-extending projections stamped therein and spaced to embrace across bar of the cage.

Signed at Boston, Mass, this 5th dayof June, 1916.

GEORGE ADAMS WOODS.

Copies 01 this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. 0;.

